On 2-Dimensional Dijkgraaf-Witten Theory with Defects

Abstract

In this paper, we provide a construction of a state-sum model for finite gauge-group Dijkgraaf-Witten theory on surfaces with codimension 1 defects. The construction requires not only that the triangulation be subordinate to the filtration, but flag-like: each simplex of the triangulation is either disjoint from the defect curve, or intersects it in a closed face. The construction allows internal degrees of freedom in the defect curves by introducing a second gauge-group from which edges of the curve are labeled in the state-sum construction. Edges incident with the defect, but not lying in it, have states lying in a set with commuting actions of the two gauge-groups. We determine the appropriate generalizations of the 2-cocycles specifying twistings of defect-free 2D Dijkgraaf-Witten theory. Examples arising by restriction of group 2-cocycles, and constructed from characters of the 2-dimensional guage group are presented. This research was carried out at Summer Undergraduate Mathematics Research (SUMaR) math REU at Kansas State University, funded by NSF under DMS award #1262877.